Court Assignment Clouds Race For Judge

CAMPAIGN 2004

Shirley Green And Brian R. Toung Want What Could Become A Different Position.

October 29, 2004|By Ludmilla Lelis, Sentinel Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- The race for a Volusia County judge seat has turned into a debate about qualifications and the future court assignment for the new judge.

Attorneys Shirley Green and Brian R. Toung are vying to replace County Judge Freddie J. Worthen for the Group 3 judicial seat. Both candidates had cleared the three-person primary on Aug. 30.

Competition for judicial seats is unusual because sitting judges are rarely challenged. Worthen, who is retiring, handles a criminal docket in Daytona Beach, and a key argument through the recent weeks of the campaign has been whether the judicial seat will remain in criminal court.

Toung said it's likely that the election winner will take over that caseload, and his extensive background in criminal court makes him the more qualified candidate. Currently in private practice, he has been an attorney for more than 20 years. The Daytona Beach attorney has received all the major endorsements, including a nod from the two local daily newspapers, from several unions and from the Volusia County chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Green, a managing attorney at Community Legal Services of Central Florida, admits that she has limited experience in criminal court, but she believes she has enough experience in courts to join the bench. An attorney for more than 12 years, she has spent most of her legal career at Community Legal Services, which offers legal advice to low- and moderate-income families, and has worked on poverty and housing-law cases, which are heard on the civil docket.

"I thoroughly checked this out before I decided to run because I don't want to be an incompetent judge," she said. "I believe I can do the job."

She also notes that every judge, no matter the amount of prior experience, receives intense training before taking the job, which would prepare her for hearing the misdemeanors.

"The majority of the people in county court are unrepresented people with less-serious infractions, not the rapists or murderers," she said.

She also disputes whether the judicial seat will be in criminal court because the judicial assignments are often rotated, so there's a chance that the new judge will hear civil cases. Toung counters that even if the position becomes a civil seat, he has handled more civil-court cases than his opponent.

Besides the arguments about qualifications and the future court assignment, there are few other issues debated in this race. Then again, there are few other issues that can be debated because ethics rules bar judicial candidates from discussing issues that might come up in court or even from divulging their political party.

As one potential court improvement, Toung said he would like to have computers installed for every county judge, giving them quick access to the countywide criminal-justice database.

"It would just take a second to see if the defendant has a record that someone else has overlooked," he said. "There are only nine county judges. How much could it cost?"

Toung said such access might help to avoid the same mistakes that led to the premature release of Troy Victorino, accused of being the ringleader in the Deltona massacre. Victorino had been in jail for an unrelated assault and should have remained there because he had violated his probation, but such information wasn't discussed at a court hearing presided over by Worthen, and Victorino was released on bail just days before the slayings.

Green said she would like to set up a "pro se" manual or a legal-help phone line so that people charged with misdemeanors can better navigate the court system without an attorney.

"Not everybody can afford an attorney, and not everybody can qualify for legal aid," she said.